It makes sense on paper, since most of our computer use is on the web, why not make a computer Operating System optimised for web use? This is what Chrome OS (or Chromium OS) is. Instead of having a hard drive full of stuff, all of your stuff is on the internet somewhere in the cloud…
There is a version of this operating system tweaked for my Dell Inspiron Mini that can be booted form a USB stick, so I thought I’d try that. It booted ok, the browser was ok, (in fact that’s near enough all there is to it) it was fairly quick too (not something these netbooks are known for) But I just had the urge to save things to my hard drive, or watch/listen to stuff stored on the netbook. This is not what it is for, and you more or less can’t do it (at least it didn’t like my MPG files, and refused to play them). I think the fault is with me, rather than the concept, too old and set in my ways.
I’m glad I hadn’t installed it, only run it from memory stick. Back to Windows 7 (which isn’t really that bad, I was just bored, really). Unless I install Linux…
What? Why Bother? 